3D printing is poised to revolutionize manufacturing and transform the way electronics and electromagnetic devices are designed and manufactured. It offers the ability to arbitrarily place different materials in three dimensions with high precision. This capability will help to break away from traditional planar designs and to utilize the third dimension like never before. More functions can fit into the same amount of space, products with novel form factors can be more easily manufactured, interconnections can be routed more smoothly, interfaces can be better implemented, electrical and mechanical functions can be comingled, and entirely new device paradigms will be invented.
However, moving away from traditional planar topologies creates many new problems—like signal integrity, crosstalk, noise, and unintentional coupling between devices or components. A number of solutions have been proposed that reduce coupling and cross talk, including hole fences, guarded ground tracks, step shaped transmission lines, and even faraday cages. All of these approaches, however, use metals and can produce new problems in the framework of a 3D system because the isolation structures themselves occupy space, limit how closely components can be placed, and introduce electrical losses.
Thus, a need exists for materials and designs that improve the electromagnetic compatibility of devices and components by reducing coupling and cross-talk.